Movie review: Dead walk (again) in 'Survival of the Dead'

Friday

May 28, 2010 at 12:01 AMMay 28, 2010 at 11:27 AM

Those zombies just keep lurching along. And George A. Romero keeps breathing life into the walking dead, more than four decades after he caught horror fans and the movie industry unaware with the wildly successful “Night of the Living Dead.”

Ed Symkus

Those zombies just keep lurching along. And George A. Romero keeps breathing life into the walking dead, more than four decades after he caught horror fans and the movie industry unaware with the wildly successful “Night of the Living Dead.”

Many sequels and remakes later, the formula – an unexplained phenomenon cause the dead to come alive, they’re hungry for living flesh, they can only be killed by a bullet through the brain – still works.

Romero has often had fun simply starting the series over. Three years ago, his innovative “Diary of the Dead” once again began with the outbreak of zombies, as if the first film had never happened, and none of his characters knew what was going on.

In “Survival of the Dead,” the story begins six days later, when everyone is still confounded. We’re introduced to a group of rogue military people, ranging from the no-nonsense leader Sarge Crockett (Alan Van Sprang) – who appeared briefly in the previous film – to the tough lesbian tomboy (Athena Karkanis). They’ve decided to desert the military and find a safe place.

Too bad, then, that they hook up with old gent Patrick O’Flynn (the deep-voiced Kenneth Welsh), who has just been voted off an island near Delaware that’s been shared for generations with his family and the family of another old gent, Seamus Muldoon (Richard Fitzpatrick). Wouldn’t you know it: The O’Flynns and the Muldoons have been feuding for as long as they can remember, and right now they don’t agree on what to do about their suddenly very active cemeteries.

Anyone who’s ever seen a horror film will know that O’Flynn somehow convinces these heavily armed folks to accompany him back to the “safe refuge” of the island, where all kinds of things can go as wrong as possible.

Now, being stuck on an island full of ravenous zombies would be plenty of fodder for a typical genre film. But Romero consistently attempts to put new clothing on his old story. Along with an obvious nod to a McCoy-Hatfield type of conflict, he’s imbued this one with references to Westerns and, more specifically and strangely, to David Lean’s epic “Ryan’s Daughter.” Truth be told, if you’re not a fan of Westerns or haven’t seen “Ryan’s Daughter,” there’s nothing to worry about. This odd mix of slapstick comedy, ultra-violent gore, and social commentary works fine on its own.

Social commentary? Huh? Well, yes, when there are two different sides involved in a philosophical discussion on what to do with the undead (Shoot them? Put them to work in menial jobs?), there’s a social statement being made.

Ah, but when a fire extinguisher hose is placed in a zombie’s mouth in just such a way to make said zombie’s eyes pop and head explode, that’s what can only be called slapstick gore.

If you need any more for your buck, this is as much about the O’Flynn-Muldoon conflict as it is about humans versus zombies.

Wait, Romero couldn’t rest with just that. There’s also some business about a million bucks that every living person wants to get his or her hands on.

Does that mean that there’s too much happening in this film? Sure, but that only adds to the grisly fun.